Roku users are starting to see ads on the pause screen (Update: Roku response)

TL;DR Reports are coming in that Roku may be experimenting with pause-screen ads. The ads are reportedly appearing even if the user has an ad-free subscription. These ads appear as static images that show up occasionally when media is paused. Update, May 6, 2025 (6:26 PM ET): Roku has been in touch with Android Authority regarding these reports, and the company strongly denies the most problematic components of the claims. As Roku explains, while it offers a “Pause Ads” option for advertisers looking to do some promotion through The Roku Channel, that does not apply to other streaming apps. Whatever those users thought they might have been seeing and shared on social media may just be in error. The company is also not serving ads on HDMI inputs connected to its streaming hardware. Original article, May 2, 2025 (2:00 PM ET): Roku received a lot of pushback from customers after testing a feature that would auto-play video ads at device startup back in March. If you found that test to ... Read full article.